For my birthday, my wife bought me a book called “The Lost Carving: A Journey to the Heart of Making“, written by David Esterly. Esterly may arguably be one of the most talented carvers of our age. This book details his experience replacing a seven foot-long Grinling Gibbons (1648-1721) carving destroyed during the fire at Henry VIII’s Hampton Court Palace in 1986. I didn’t really know what to expect from this book – was it going to be one long epitome of the process involved in carving this piece of work? Would I actually read past the first few pages? Well, it is an exceptionally well written book, which offers an insight into the creativity and physical effort required to replicate a work of art over three centuries old. What I immensely enjoyed were the investigative pieces scattered throughout the book – for example the quest to find out when lime was applied to the pieces. Esterly offers a perspective of a different sort of carving, as most of his work involves limewood (basswood or linden), an ideal wood for carving due to the lack of grain. An excellent read.
working by hand 